Aug-22: Modified "Shoofly Don't Bother Me"

Aug-22:

PUE: modified Shoofly Don't Bother Me course; w/ Lt. Dave, Iva, NT, BobH + PaulS (until Shock Overton Rd); 82.3 m.; est 3205 ft climbed ---> effort index = 114; 5hrs, 10min; 15.9 mph.

1st Qt. tot: 20 rides; 755.3 m.; 47 hrs, 31 min; 15.9 mph.
2nd Qt. tot: 43 rides; 2124.3 m.; 134 hrs, 59 min; 15.7 mph.
Jul tot: 16 rides; 732.2 m.; 45 hrs, 3 min; 16.2 mph.
Aug tot: 7 rides; 530.3 m.; 33 hrs, 24 min; 15.9 mph
YTD: 86 rides; 4142.1. m.; 261 hrs, 6 min; 15.9 mph.

Rolling 12-mos.: 117 rides; 5689.0 m.; 355 hrs, 38 min; 16.0 mph.

The Mallet sent an e-mail expressing three things:

1. That he hoped we all finshed our ride without incident.

2. That he found Philo White to have been recently graveled ("chipped and sealed", I guess).

3. That he made sure to finish Ghoston - Peed - MVC, so as to not miss out on the hills.

Reply:

As far as I know everyone made it back without incident (Norris and BobH left the Oxford US-158 RS a few minutes before Dave, Iva, and I). We found no "chalk outlines" between Oxford and PUE, so we assumed they finished in style, and avoided the cold front. 

An astute Lt. Dave figured I would just as soon skip Philo White (we had decided before leaving the RS that we'd skip Flat Rock) as I was struggling on anything with an "up".  I didn't even glance at Philo White as I crawled past. 
 
Dave did a lot of work from about 35 miles out -- he pulled me the last five or more miles to get to the aforementioned RS. The he pulled Iva and I most of the way to the Tar River, with Iva taking over for a couple miles (until he lost concentration and tried to pull a "Harvey" -- luckily, Iva did not crash, and neither did Dave or I).

We saw the dark clouds of the cold front coming in from the NW as we crossed the lake on New Light. Dave and Iva then made a wise decision at the bottom of Ghoston and left me to find my own "pace" home. The cold front and its wind arrived just as I crested Ghoston -- I don't know how far ahead Dave and Iva were at that point.

I was so slow on Ghoston-Peed-MVC (26 minutes; possibly the slowest EVER; and to think that two or three months ago, I was taking only 20 or 21 minutes every time for the 3-humps at the end, regardless of how tired I may have been), that Iva came looking for me from the safety of his Sequoia. He turned and followed me back to PUE in the downpour just so he could harass me by informing that he had "just" managed to get his bike and himself into his vehicle seconds before the downpour started. (You certainly know Iva well enough to know that he did not provide that information for purposes of harassment or "rubbing it in". I was happy to see his smiling face -- even though Iva probably thought I was giving him a "death-wish" look". I was too tired and wet to possibly look very chipper.)

Dave informed me that he was at Norwood when the skies opened; so he still had 3/4 of a mile downslope coast to get to the safety of his garage.

Where was I when the downpour begain? I'm not sure. The cool temps of the cold front and the refreshing nature of the chilly rain was nice. The cold wind -- wind -- not so much. I was so soaked when I got to the car, I no longer cared or worried about how much more water got on me. Once I got the bike into the car, I took my time removing my jersey (and wringing it out), taking off my shoes (and dumping as much water as I could out), and getting my socks off (wringing much water out of each). I admit that the hatch on my rear door provided some relief from the downpour, or I might have tried to move faster.

My shoes were still so soaked this morning (Sunday, Aug-23), that I piddled around for two hours playing at cleaning the bike before I mounted to ride. Even then, I seriously considered not riding because my feet would get so very wet the moment the slid into the shoes. But I finally reasoned that the shoes would probably dry out faster, and more water would get "squeezed out" if I rode than from any other thing I could think to do.

Today (Sunday, Aug-23), I was coming back up Coley Rd from the highway towards Carpenter Pond when I saw "the Lash" riding downslope. I continued on to the stop sign at Kemp, then U-turned until I encountered the Lash again. I think she was initially almost excited to see me. Before I could say anything, she said "only 52 more miles to go." I responded "unfortunately, I have no legs with which to help you, today." We rode another "loop" of Coley -- she used me to break the north-ish breeze / wind on the downslope. I had to "let her go" somewhere just before the stop sign on Kemp on the upslope return to Carpenter Pond, but I never lost sight of her, until the last curve or two before CP. Still, when I got to the stop sign at CP, she was no where to be seen.

I would try to include more about the rest of the group from yesterday, but I was too tired to have noticed anything much.

I presume you enjoyed Bryan Hill, Sam Usry, and Eaton roads as each has at least one valley crossing -- and Eaton has two.

What are the lessons from Saturday's ride?

1. Don't lose concentration before the ride and arrive only 11 minutes before wheels-away.

2. Don't lose concentration prepping the bike and thus forget to include your water bottles.

3. If you do either or both of the above, do NOT try to "make it up" to the group by riding too fast in the beginning.

4. Do not lose concentration while leading the line, and then go off into the "verge".

5. Occassionally, pick some routes that do NOT end Ghoston-Peed-MVC.